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Natural Hair and Hotcombs: The Challenge of Selling Out

PushBlack

The goal of many entrepreneurs is to grow such a large customer base and generate an upward trend of returns such that their company is acquired by a larger company. But at what cost? Natural hair care lines that were once remarkably successful within communities of color have transitioned to corporate (read: White) ownership, leaving the consumer to wonder who is truly targeted for and benefitting from the product.

Carol’s Daughter, founded by Lisa Price, was created in a Black woman’s kitchen. To many of us, it represented a brand name success story to the homemade concoctions passed down from our grandmothers and mothers alike.

“The transformation of marketing natural hair care lines is a strong testament to what Black consumers gain and lose when their beloved products became [sic] a part of larger corporations – ‘mainstream’ can be a loose euphemism to erase Blackness altogether.”

To Jenkins, her experience at the expo demonstrated a shift from the company’s original narrative and she wasn’t pleased.

But is casting a wider net really a problem? Some Black entrepreneurs insist that Black people don’t buy their products, or enough of them. But with Black buying power set to reach $1.7 trillion by 2017, we wonder if a wider appeal is truly necessary for our Black-owned companies.

Attempts for Black-centric marketplaces have tried and failed, while others have sought to shift focus from products-based to service-based r in hopes of maximizing our buying power. Though no single formula exists, PushBlack encourages its family to make ardent efforts to buy Black when possible: supporting Black-owned businesses, organizations, and professionals so to build a collective empire.